Chicago Expecting Throngs of Fans for Cubs Victory Parade

Installer Brian Terry of Bannerville USA, puts up 2016 World Series Champions, Cubs banners as preparations for the parade and rally to celebrate the Chicago Cubs World series victory are rolled out along south Columbus Dr. in Chicago's Grant Park, No available, photo: Chicago Tribune/Antonio Perez, via AP

CHICAGO – The celebration hasn’t stopped in Chicago, where throngs of Chicago Cubs fans are expected at a parade and rally honoring the World Series champions on Friday.

Events get underway at Wrigley Field on Friday morning, with the parade leaving the historic ballpark at 10 a.m. The parade will wind its way downtown an hour later and end in Grant Park for a rally expected to start around noon.

The city also plans to dye the Chicago River blue to honor the team, similar to how the river goes green annually for St. Patrick’s Day.

A victory party is new territory for long-suffering fans of the Chicago Cubs, who hadn’t won a World Series title in 108 years before their Game 7, extra-inning thriller in Cleveland on Wednesday night. The last time the Cubs even reached the Fall Classic was in 1945.

It’s unclear how many people will attend Friday’s parade and rally. The city estimates that two million people attended similar events in 2015, after the Chicago Blackhawks won their third Stanley Cup in six years — but generations of Cubs fans have a lot of pent-up celebrating to do.

Friday was already a scheduled day off for Chicago Public Schools, meaning the city’s 390,000 public-school students will be able to attend.